Jack Nicklaus was full of praise for Michelle Wie West in 2007 when asked about her teeing it up in PGA Tour events.
Michelle Wie West is one of the biggest superstars the game has had since the turn of the millennium. It seems baffling that she ended her professional career with just five wins on the LPGA Tour, including one major.
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It therefore feels like a real coup for the WTGL to have signed Wie West ahead of its inaugural season later this year.
What Jack Nicklaus said about Michelle Wie West in 2007
Wie West was one of the players who managed to attract mainstream attention in the early stages of her career, particularly after playing in a PGA Tour event at the age of 14 back in 2004.
The 36-year-old went on to play in eight PGA Tour tournaments during her career. She did not manage to make the cut, despite coming incredibly close on her debut.
And speaking in an interview with Golf Digest in 2007, Jack Nicklaus suggested that he supported the decision to invite her to PGA Tour events.
“Michelle is a terrific talent. I’ve never seen a female golfer with her physical skills who can create so much power under control and with ease,” he said.
“As far as her playing in men’s events, well, she’s selling tickets, she’s creating interest. If sponsors have only so many exemptions, they have a right to give her one, and she has the right to accept. Anybody who has the ability to get on the tour by sponsor exemption – my first tournament on tour, the L.A. Open in 1962, was by sponsor exemption – is qualified.
“On an overall skill level, I don’t think Michelle is quite there yet, and I don’t know if she ever will be. But she’s never going to get there unless she’s given the opportunity and she tries.
“But is it going to get stale if she isn’t competitive? Yes. And it’s approaching that. The first four or five times it was okay. But there’s a limit.
“Maybe she got those exemptions too early. Maybe if she had waited she could really compete with men. She’s been pushed far out into the spotlight, but she’s also chosen that path. It has cost her some of her youth, but I was heartened to see that she’s going to go to college after being accepted at Stanford. She has the ability to do things on the golf course that men do, and I’d love to see her do it.”
The WTGL could surprise a lot of people as Michelle Wie West signs up
The WTGL has divided opinion among some. Given that it is a very different style of competition, there does not appear to be a reason why they could not have combined the two leagues.
There is arguably no better stage to put Charley Hull up against Rory McIlroy, or Lexi Thompson up against Tiger Woods. So it does feel like a missed opportunity.
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But the roster that the WTGL is building is already looking hugely impressive. World number one Jeeno Thitikul has signed up, and she has, without a doubt, one of the most infectious personalities in the game.
Wie West further adds to the star power within the ranks, even after several years away from the LPGA.
It should not come as a surprise if the WTGL attracts more of an audience than TGL in time, particularly if Wie West is not the last household name to sign up.
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